One of F1Fanatic’s most popular events, the Gran Turismo 5 Le Mans 24 Laps, returns for its third edition. This ground-breaking, one of a kind race is the single most gruelling event that F1Fanatic organises all year round. The Le Mans 24 Laps requires skill, bravery, endurance, a decent internet connection, wits, speed, a copy of Gran Turismo 5, patience, tactics and, above all, a strong bladder.

Taking place using Gran Turismo 5 for the PlayStation 3, a maximum of 16 F1Fanatics will compete in an online race using real Le Mans Prototype machines over 24 high-speed laps of the world famous Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe.

Using the brilliant graphical qualities of GT5, the race will take place over the course of one full virtual day, with each lap translating into one virtual ‘hour’ of the real life Le Mans 24 Hours. The race will begin in glorious sunshine, before darkness descends as night engulfs the circuit. As the race nears its conclusion, the sun rises again, bathing the drivers in sunlight and lighting the path to the finish. But after the 24 laps are complete, who will be the one to claim victory?

The most important thing to keep in mind about the Le Mans 24 Laps is that it is an ENDURANCE race. Because Le Mans is a 13.6km long circuit and 24 laps of it equals a total race distance of 327km (longer than a Grand Prix distance), you will be racing for a long time in this event – between 1h 30 minutes and 1h 45 minutes. Once the race begins, you will not be able to:
• Pause
• Answer your phone
• Answer the door
• Go to the toilet
• Feed your dog
• Pick up your girlfriend from work
• Watch TV
• Tweet
• Post on Facebook, etc

That’s why we ask people interested in racing in this year’s Le Mans 24 Laps to only register to race only if they can and are willing to commit two hours to race in the event.

It’s also important to point out that this race is organised each year for FUN. This is NOT a serious sim race – this is a fun, casual event where the emphasis is on enjoying the experience of racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours in a virtual environment with other F1Fanatics. There are no prizes for the winner. Winning is not important, the thrill of the race itself is. If you want to come to this race with a ‘win at all costs’ attitude, you are not welcome. If you want to come along and enjoy the awesome experience of racing real Le Mans cars in a virtual Le Mans 24 Hours with your fellow fanatics, you’re going to have a grand ol’ time. The first two Le Mans 24 Laps have been tremendously successful because everyone involved has come into the race with the right mindset and we are very much looking forward to that being the case again this year.

Basically, if you’re a serious sim-racer, you’re more than welcome to join in, but don’t expect this to be an iRacing-level realistic event. Saying that, however, I do expect all of those who do enter to race fairly, to adhere to standard online racing etiquette and to compete in a friendly manner.

Like every year, competitors will have free choice of the car they will use drive in the Le Mans 24 Laps. However, there are certain restrictions in place to try and ensure an equal and fair race:
• No Formula racing cars or the X2010/X2011 are permitted
• Cars can only be tuned up to a maximum of 700pp
• Cars above 700pp can be brought below the limit by adding ballast or decreasing power
• Vehicles below 700pp can be brought up to the limit by upgrading and tuning the car
• Only one of each car is permitted in the race – if someone else has claimed the Mazda 787B, for example, you will not be allowed to enter that car yourself and must choose another vehicle.

The 2013 Le Mans 24 Laps will take place on GT5 in a private lobby on Saturday, 22 June 2013. The lobby will be open for warm-up from 11:30AM British Time (10:30AM GMT) , and the race itself will begin at 12:00PM (midday) British Summer Time (11:00GMT). To see when the race will begin in your part of the world, CLICK HERE. (Note: this is when the race will START. Please be sure to be in the lobby and ready to go by this time.)

Please note, the race does not clash with the start of the real life Le Mans 24 Hours and will be finished long before the start of the actual event.

The race will be run on the Change Time/Change Weather 2009 version of Le Mans, so prepare for the possibility of wet running and make sure that your car has working headlights and that you’re familiar with how to operate them.

As GT5′s qualifying system is quite confusing at best, there won’t be any official qualifying session held and the grid will be decided by random. However, because it’s an endurance race and BOOST is enabled, starting grid position is really not that important.

Please ensure that you update your copy of GT5 to the current version before Saturday by downloading the latest software updates as soon as possible.

If you are interested in competing in this year’s Le Mans 24 Laps, please register your entry into the event in the following way:

Please enter both your PSN name exactly how it appears, using capital letters and any spaces or extra characters and please enter the name of the model of the car you wish to enter exactly how it appears in your garage.

As this is a popular event and there are only a maximum of 16 cars allowed in GT5, places in the race will be given to Fanatics on a first come, first served basis in the interest of fairness. Please read the entire post to understand everything that is required to race in the Le Mans 24 Laps and only enter if you are able and committed to competing.

I know my impression on you has not been great, but having been in the last 2 24 Hours of Le Mans, I feel that I could be trusted racing again. If you feel that I am not allowed then that is fine, but personally it is water under the bridge and have proven else where I have the ability to race cleanly and take this for fun which is what this once-a-year event is about.

What I should have done there is read the whole post rather than getting ahead of myself and not spotting that the Sauber has already gone. I should have known! I’ll have to double check what other cars I’ve got when I get back later this evening.